Networker vs. NetBackup
Hi there all, I am charged with evaluating backup options for a large database system. I'd very much appreciate your opinions/judgements/experiences, etc. Presently we backup a Sun E4000 running Solaris 2.6 and Informix 7.3. We use Solstice Backup (LeGato Networker) 5.1. The system backup of 18.5 GB takes 2.57 hours at 2 MB/sec to a 4mm tape. The database backups of 14.8 GB take 1.65 hours at 2.5 MB/sec to disk. We are planning to move to a Sun E6000 with 1.7 TB disk space to be backed up. At our best speed this will take 189 hours!!! How can we improve on the 2.5 MB/sec speed for a single device? How many devices can we realistically expect to write to in parallel? Is there a much faster media than tape? Is there a backup application faster than Networker, .e.g. Veritas NetBackup? We plan to continue with Informix on Sun. Should we think <outside the box>? Cheers, Gary Ross
In article <8164ou$c24$1@gxsn.com>, Gary Ross <gjross@globalnet.co.uk> writes >Hi there all, > >I am charged with evaluating backup options for a large database system. >I'd very much appreciate your opinions/judgements/experiences, etc. > >Presently we backup a Sun E4000 running Solaris 2.6 and Informix 7.3. >We use Solstice Backup (LeGato Networker) 5.1. >The system backup of 18.5 GB takes 2.57 hours at 2 MB/sec to a 4mm tape. >The database backups of 14.8 GB take 1.65 hours at 2.5 MB/sec to disk. > >We are planning to move to a Sun E6000 with 1.7 TB disk space to be backed >up. >At our best speed this will take 189 hours!!! > >How can we improve on the 2.5 MB/sec speed for a single device? >How many devices can we realistically expect to write to in parallel? Default with Informix Storage Manager is 4. BAR_MAXBACKUP(?) in ONCONFIG can be made higher though. Just make sure you do not have more tape devices than disk!! >Is there a much faster media than tape? I've seen more than 2Mb/sec. Look at DLT 7000 devices (35Gb/70Gb compressed). There might even be larger individual tapes. Check how many devices Legato can support.. >Is there a backup application faster than Networker, .e.g. Veritas >NetBackup? >We plan to continue with Informix on Sun. Should we think <outside the box>? > SUn is fine.. Good I/O + multithreading.. >Cheers, Gary Ross > > > -- David Williams
Gary: It's time to think way out of the box. I am the Senior Legato Technical Sales Architect and I would like to discuss with you some of the fastest new architectures for backups in the industry. 1. First off, we must look at the architecture of your backups. Are you backing up over the network? If so, I would recommend making the Informix node a Storage Node to localize the backup traffic to the system and the drive. 2. If you don't already run the Legato NetWorker Power Edition, it is time you did. Power Edition enable share semaphore memory backup which avoid looping the backups through the TCP/IP stack. This will also improve backup performance. 3. If you are backing up over the network, and your network is probably 100BT switched ethernet, check with your network administrator and ensure that the switch is set too 100BT Full Duplex with autosensing turned off. Then check the same for the client's network interface. After you do these checks, perform a straight binary FTP from the client to the backup host and see if you are getting around 7500 to 12500 KB/s. I have seen many networks incorrectly configured which brought the performance to only 53 KB/s. 4. The DLT7000 although fast, is definitely not the front runner. What type of library are you running? StorageTek offers the 9840 tape drive which blows away all other performance in the market. Other drives include the SuperDLT which is backwards compatible with DLT, but not out in the market yet and not proven. DLT7000 SKT9840 TAPE LOAD TIME 68 seconds 4 seconds TAPE SEEK TIME 90+ seconds 8-11 seconds PERFORMANCE 5-10 MB/S 10 - 34 MB/S CAPACITY 35 - 70 GB 20 - 80 GB ---A New Paradigm of Backups (SAN and Serverless)--- 5. Forget the notion of file level backups with database modules. Legato Celestra is the only true serverless backup in the industry to work in a SAN or SCSI environment. Normally when you think about SAN, you think that backups will go very fast across a dedicated backup. The only problem is that although you have relieved the network problem, you still impact CPU and I/O during the backups. Celestra enables what we call the "Third Party Copy". Basically, we enable a switch (Data Mover) to perform a complete block level backup directly from the disk to the tape drives. This architecture can scale linearly with no performance degradation when you add additional drives. It also means that with ordinary systems and ordinary drives you can attain one terabyte backups in under one hour. Please go to the Legato Web Site directly and take a look at the newest solution. Not only can we backup, but we can replicate the data from disk to disk realtime as well. I would like to speak with you directly or continue to exchange emails about completely rearchitecting a solution for your environment. I have included my contact information below: ------------------------------------------------ David B. Maislin Senior Technical Sales Architect Legato Systems Email: maislin@legato.com Office: (602) 266-8620 Mobile: (602) 684-9303 ------------------------------------------------- In article <8164ou$c24$1@gxsn.com>, "Gary Ross" <gjross@globalnet.co.uk> wrote: > Hi there all, > > I am charged with evaluating backup options for a large database system. > I'd very much appreciate your opinions/judgements/experiences, etc. > > Presently we backup a Sun E4000 running Solaris 2.6 and Informix 7.3. > We use Solstice Backup (LeGato Networker) 5.1. > The system backup of 18.5 GB takes 2.57 hours at 2 MB/sec to a 4mm tape. > The database backups of 14.8 GB take 1.65 hours at 2.5 MB/sec to disk. > > We are planning to move to a Sun E6000 with 1.7 TB disk space to be backed > up. > At our best speed this will take 189 hours!!! > > How can we improve on the 2.5 MB/sec speed for a single device? > How many devices can we realistically expect to write to in parallel? > Is there a much faster media than tape? > Is there a backup application faster than Networker, .e.g. Veritas > NetBackup? > We plan to continue with Informix on Sun. Should we think <outside the box>? > > Cheers, Gary Ross > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.